THE United States is taking charge in earthquake-devastated Haiti as thousands of troops and tonnes of aid begin arriving in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

US President Barack Obama, responding to the first large-scale humanitarian disaster of his presidency, has pledged $US100 million to Haiti with more to come.

"I will not put up with any excuses for us not doing the very best in this time of tragedy,'' Mr Obama said.

He announced that the "first waves" of the US response were in place including two search-and-rescue teams on the ground, Coast Guard cutters in the port, the US Southern Command in control of the airport and airlifts bringing in supplies and taking out the injured, the Associated Press reported.

About six ships, plus 5500 soldiers and Marines are still on their way to Haiti, which is expecting a death toll in the tens of thousands following Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake.

Mr Obama's comments come as eyewitnesses described desperate Haitians setting up roadblocks with corpses in the capital Port-au-Prince to protect at the delay in emergency aid reaching them.

Shaul Schwarz, a photographer for TIME magazine, said he saw at least two downtown roadblocks formed with bodies of earthquake victims and rocks.

"They are starting to block the roads with bodies," he said.

"It's getting ugly out there, people are fed up with getting no help."

Gangs of men waving machetes were roaming through devastated Port-au-Prince as people staged desperate raids for any goods they can lay their hands on, Fox News reported.

Earlier, reporter Steve Harrigan said there was almost no sign of authority in the capital.

"There’s nobody in uniform, nobody giving directions."

Mr Harrigan said the recovery operations so far was “Haitians helping Haitians” while they waited for international aid. Any policing, he said, was also being done by Haitians.

Earlier, World Food Program (WFP) spokesman Charles Vincent said: "Most of the population had not had food for the whole day yesterday and today. As a result a certain insecurity is feared."

The scale of devastation caused by the quake means the WFP has been unable to gain access to its warehouses.

Children 'petrified and in danger'

A major charity has warned up to two million children are at risk as Haiti's prime minister said the death toll could top 100,000. President Rene Preval gave a more conservative estimate of 50,000, which the International Red Cross has agreed with.

Branches of the Red Cross and Red Crescent were expecting to help a "maximum of three million people" - a third of Haiti's population.

Save The Children said youngsters were "petrified and in danger" after being orphaned or badly injured in the quake, which struck when many were at school.

"This is an unbelievably traumatic experience for children in Haiti," said Gareth Owen, the organisation's director of emergencies.

"Thousands will have lost all contact with their families and friends and are now struggling to survive alone in the rubble.

"They are sleeping on their own, trying to cope with the trauma of seeing dead bodies, and will have no idea where to go for help.

"Children mimic adults in these sorts of crises. They see grown-ups scrabbling through the debris looking for bodies and will try to follow suit. Aside from the damage this is doing to their mental health, it's putting their safety in danger as buildings will be very unstable and may still collapse."

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) appealed for tents to shelter homeless survivors and said it was gearing up to distribute vital supplies.

"What we need is tents, tents and more tents. We need large or individual tents, whatever is available, and financial support quickly," said Vincent Houver, the IOM's chief of mission in Haiti.

The organisation said it would provide tarpaulins, plastic sheeting, cans and water containers from stocks already in the impoverished country to help some 10,000 families.

Schools, hospitals, hotels and even the presidential palace lay in ruins, with people caked in blood and dust pleading for help after the quake struck just southwest of Port-au-Prince.

The epicentre of the quake hit near the slum of Carrefour, where people were living in flimsy shacks. Initial reports suggested that over 90 per cent of its buildings were in ruins.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said a "small number" of Australians remain unaccounted for in Haiti.

"The good news is that we have been able to confirm the safety of 20 Australians in Haiti," a DFAT spokesperson said.

"This includes all the Australians known to be working for the UN's Mission des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation en Haiti in Haiti."

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Comments on this story

Leanne Posted at 4:14 PM January 15, 2010

Well said Angry Jase! I couldn't have said it better myself. These people need our help.

Kimberley of Sydney Posted at 4:12 PM January 15, 2010

I agree with Sean - 'Just because you feel good by giving money does not mean you are doing any good to help if your money gets into the wrong hands!' and if I were without food or water for up to 48 hours, I think I too would start doing something to get some kind of attention, no matter how drastic it may seem to others.

disgusted by many comments Posted at 4:09 PM January 15, 2010

Please keep in mind that this 'using corpses to block roads' is the interpetation of ONE witness! The most likely thing is that people are putting all the bodies they dig up in a few cental locations, so that there aren't just bodies strewn everywhere. It may well impede traffic in those spots, but somehow I doubt there's a lot of traffic anyway.
As for all the people telling them to 'be grateful' there in NO evidence to suggest they won't be grateful once help is able to get to them. Try using some empathy, and just imagine what kind of state you would be in if almost your entire city/town had collapsed, a lot of your family and friends were dead, you had no food, water or shelter, no communication, no idea if help was coming or if mroe quakes were to come. Plus to top it of there's lowlife scum with weapons stealing what little is left for themselves. I think you'll find looting happens around the world after all disasters. I know it happened in Newcastle after the earthquake there.
So get over yourselves and show some compassion! These people are suffering more than you probably ever will!

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